ABSTRACT
Introduction Rheumatic mitral stenosis continues to be a major health concern in many less developed countries. Previously, the only mechanical therapy for selected symptomatic patients with significant mitral stenosis was either open or closed surgical commissurotomy. Percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy (PTMC) introduced in 1984 by Inoue et al1
provided a new dimension in the treatment of patients with mitral stenosis. Extensive clinical studies have established this minimally invasive, non-surgical procedure to be a safe and effective therapeutic modality in selected patients with mitral stenosis.2-8 This chapter provides an overview of the technical aspects and clinical outcome of the procedure, and attempts to place the clinical use of PTMC in its proper perspective.
